Taiwan Relations Reinforcement Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4813 To support United States policy toward Taiwan. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 20 (legislative day, OCTOBER 19), 2020 Mr. RUBIO (for himself and Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To support United States policy toward Taiwan. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Taiwan Relations Re- 4 inforcement Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress makes the following findings: 7 (1) The Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 (Public 8 Law 96–8) and the Six Assurances, first articulated 9 by President Ronald Reagan in 1982, are both cor- 10 nerstones of United States relations with Taiwan, 11 formally known as the Republic of China (ROC). 12 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Oct 28, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4813.IS S4813 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4813 IS (2) The People’s Republic of China (PRC) and 1 Taiwan have been ruled without interruption by sep- 2 arate governments since 1949, and Taiwan has not 3 been subjected to rule by the PRC at any point since 4 the PRC was first established in 1949. 5 (3) The so-called ‘‘One China Policy’’ of the 6 United States Government is not the same as the 7 ‘‘One China principle’’ espoused by the People’s Re- 8 public of China. 9 (4) Threats and actions by the Government of 10 the People’s Republic of China to unilaterally deter- 11 mine Taiwan’s future through non-peaceful means, 12 including the direct use of force, military coercion, 13 economic boycotts or embargoes, and efforts to 14 internationally isolate or annex Taiwan, would un- 15 dermine stability in the Taiwan Strait and are of 16 grave concern to the United States Government. 17 (5) The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) 18 global influence operations and efforts to exert sharp 19 power have sought to diplomatically undermine the 20 legitimacy of the democratically elected Government 21 of Taiwan, intimidate the people of Taiwan, and 22 force Taiwan’s diplomatic partners to abandon it. 23 (6) The force modernization program and mili- 24 tary buildup of the CCP-controlled People’s Libera- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Oct 28, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4813.IS S4813 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4813 IS tion Army poses a serious challenge to the balance 1 of power in the Indo-Pacific region, including the 2 Taiwan Strait, and to United States national secu- 3 rity interests as a Pacific power. 4 (7) Cultural and educational exchanges between 5 the United States and Taiwan are a key component 6 of building and strengthening bilateral people-to-peo- 7 ple ties and provide important, high-quality learning 8 opportunities for students interested in politics, his- 9 tory, language, and culture. 10 (8) Taiwan is an important trading partner for 11 the United States, representing the 10th largest 12 market for United States exports in 2019. 13 (9) April 10, 2020, marked the 41st anniver- 14 sary of the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 (Public 15 Law 96–8). 16 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 17 It is the sense of Congress that— 18 (1) the United States Government should 19 strengthen cooperation with the military of Taiwan 20 under the framework of the Taiwan Relations Act 21 (Public Law 96–8) and the Six Assurances with con- 22 sideration of the ongoing military buildup in China 23 and the imbalance in the security environment in the 24 Taiwan Strait; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Oct 28, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4813.IS S4813 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4813 IS (2) the United States Government should urge 1 Taiwan to increase its own investments in military 2 capabilities that support implementation of its asym- 3 metric defense strategy; 4 (3) the United States Government should pro- 5 mote dignity and respect for its Taiwanese counter- 6 parts, who represent more than 23,000,000 citizens, 7 by using the full range of diplomatic and financial 8 tools available to promote Taiwan’s inclusion and 9 meaningful participation in international organiza- 10 tions as well as in bilateral and multilateral security 11 summits, military exercises, and economic dialogues 12 and forums; and 13 (4) in order to deepen economic ties and ad- 14 vance the interests of the United States, the United 15 States Government should prioritize the negotiation 16 of a free trade agreement with Taiwan that provides 17 high levels of labor rights and environmental protec- 18 tion as soon as possible. 19 SEC. 4. A TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY PARTNERSHIP WITH 20 TAIWAN. 21 (a) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 22 United States to create and execute a plan for enhancing 23 its relationship with Taiwan by forming a robust partner- 24 ship that meets the challenges of the 21st century, fully 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Oct 28, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4813.IS S4813 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4813 IS accounts for Taiwan’s democratization, and remains faith- 1 ful to United States principles and values in keeping with 2 the Taiwan Relations Act and the Six Assurances. 3 (b) INTERAGENCY TAIWAN POLICY TASK FORCE.— 4 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment 5 of this Act, the President shall create an interagency Tai- 6 wan policy task force consisting of senior officials from 7 the Office of the President, the National Security Council, 8 the Department of State, the Department of Defense, the 9 Department of the Treasury, the Department of Com- 10 merce, and the Office of the United States Trade Rep- 11 resentative. 12 (c) REPORT.—The interagency Taiwan Policy Task 13 Force established under subsection (b) shall submit an an- 14 nual unclassified report with a classified annex to the ap- 15 propriate congressional committees outlining policy and 16 actions to be taken to create and execute a plan for en- 17 hancing our partnership and relations with Taiwan. 18 SEC. 5. AMERICAN INSTITUTE IN TAIWAN. 19 The position of Director of the American Institute in 20 Taiwan’s Taipei office shall be subject to the advice and 21 consent of the Senate, and effective upon enactment of 22 this Act shall have the title of Representative. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Oct 28, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4813.IS S4813 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4813 IS SEC. 6. SUPPORTING UNITED STATES EDUCATIONAL AND 1 EXCHANGE PROGRAMS WITH TAIWAN. 2 (a) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 3 United States to support United States educational and 4 exchange programs with Taiwan, including by authorizing 5 such sum as may be necessary to promote the study of 6 Chinese language, culture, history, and politics in Taiwan. 7 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF THE UNITED STATES-TAI- 8 WAN CULTURAL EXCHANGE FOUNDATION.—The Sec- 9 retary of State shall establish a new United States-Taiwan 10 Cultural Exchange Foundation, an independent nonprofit 11 dedicated to deepening ties between the future leaders of 12 Taiwan and the United States. The Foundation shall work 13 with State and local school districts and educational insti- 14 tutions to send high school and university students to Tai- 15 wan to study the Chinese language, culture, history, poli- 16 tics, and other relevant subjects. 17 (c) PARTNERING WITH TECRO.—State and local 18 school districts and educational institutions such as public 19 universities shall partner with the Taipei Economic and 20 Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in the United 21 States to establish programs to promote an increase in 22 educational and cultural exchanges. 23 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 24 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall 25 submit to the appropriate congressional committees a re- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Oct 28, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4813.IS S4813 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4813 IS port on cooperation between the United States Govern- 1 ment and the Taiwanese government to create an alter- 2 native to Confucius Institutes in an effort to promote free- 3 dom, democracy, universal values, culture, and history in 4 conjunction with Chinese language education. 5 SEC. 7. PARTICIPATION OF TAIWAN IN INTERNATIONAL OR- 6 GANIZATIONS. 7 (a) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 8 United States to promote Taiwan’s inclusion and mean- 9 ingful participation in meetings held by international orga- 10 nizations. 11 (b) SUPPORT FOR MEANINGFUL PARTICIPATION.— 12 The Permanent Representative of the United States to the 13 United Nations and other relevant United States officials 14 should actively support Taiwan’s membership and mean- 15 ingful participation in international organizations. 16 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 17 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall 18 submit to the appropriate congressional committees a re- 19 port on China’s efforts at the United Nations and other 20 international bodies to block Taiwan’s meaningful partici- 21 pation and inclusion and recommend appropriate re- 22 sponses to be taken by the United States. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Oct 28, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4813.IS S4813 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4813 IS SEC. 8. INVITATION OF TAIWANESE COUNTERPARTS TO 1 HIGH-LEVEL BILATERAL AND MULTILATERAL 2 FORUMS AND EXERCISES. 3 (a) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 4 United States to invite Taiwanese counterparts to partici- 5 pate in high-level bilateral and multilateral summits, mili- 6 tary exercises, and economic dialogues and forums. 7 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 8 gress that— 9 (1) the United States Government should invite 10 Taiwan to regional dialogues on issues of mutual 11 concern; 12 (2) the United States Government and Tai- 13 wanese counterparts should resume meetings under 14 the United States-Taiwan Trade and Investment 15 Framework Agreement and reach a bilateral free 16 trade agreement; 17 (3) the United States Government should invite 18 Taiwan to participate in bilateral and multilateral 19 military training exercises; and 20 (4) the United States Government and Tai- 21 wanese counterparts should engage in a regular and 22 routine strategic bilateral dialogue on arms sales in 23 accordance with Foreign Military Sales mechanisms, 24 and the United States Government should support 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Oct 28, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4813.IS S4813 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4813 IS export licenses for direct commercial sales sup- 1 porting Taiwan’s indigenous defensive capabilities. 2 SEC. 9. REPORT ON TAIWAN TRAVEL ACT. 3 (a) LIST OF HIGH-LEVEL VISITS.—Not later than 4 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 5 annually thereafter, the Secretary of State shall, in ac- 6 cordance with the Taiwan Travel Act (Public Law 115– 7 135), submit to the appropriate congressional committees 8 a list of high-level officials from the United States Govern- 9 ment that have traveled to Taiwan and a list of high-level 10 officials of Taiwan that have entered the United States. 11 (b) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after 12 the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually there- 13 after, the Secretary of State shall submit to the appro- 14 priate congressional committees a report on implementa- 15 tion of the Taiwan Travel Act. 16 SEC. 10. PROHIBITIONS AGAINST UNDERMINING UNITED 17 STATES POLICY REGARDING TAIWAN. 18 (a) FINDING.—Congress finds that the efforts by the 19 Government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and 20 the Chinese Communist Party to compel private United 21 States businesses, corporations, and nongovernmental en- 22 tities to use PRC-mandated language to describe the rela- 23 tionship between Taiwan and China are an intolerable at- 24 tempt to enforce political censorship globally and should 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Oct 28, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4813.IS S4813 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4813 IS be considered an attack on the fundamental underpinnings 1 of all democratic and free societies, including the constitu- 2 tionally protected right to freedom of speech. 3 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 4 gress that the United States Government, in coordination 5 with United States businesses and nongovernmental enti- 6 ties, should formulate a code of conduct for interacting 7 with the Government of the People’s Republic of China 8 and the Chinese Communist Party and affiliated entities, 9 the aim of which is— 10 (1) to counter PRC sharp power operations, 11 which threaten free speech, academic freedom, and 12 the normal operations of United States businesses 13 and nongovernmental entities; and 14 (2) to counter PRC efforts to censor the way 15 the world refers to issues deemed sensitive to the 16 Government of the People’s Republic of China and 17 Chinese Communist Party leaders, including issues 18 related to Taiwan, Tibet, the Tiananmen Square 19 Massacre, and the mass internment of Uyghurs and 20 other Turkic Muslims, among many other issues. 21 (c) PROHIBITION ON RECOGNITION OF PRC CLAIMS 22 TO SOVEREIGNTY OVER TAIWAN.— 23 (1) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 24 Congress that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Oct 28, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4813.IS S4813 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 4813 IS (A) issues related to the sovereignty of 1 Taiwan are for the people of Taiwan to decide 2 through the democratic process they have estab- 3 lished; 4 (B) the dispute between the People’s Re- 5 public of China and Taiwan must be resolved 6 peacefully and with the assent of the people of 7 Taiwan; 8 (C) the primary obstacle to peaceful reso- 9 lution is the authoritarian nature of the PRC 10 political system under one-party rule of the Chi- 11 nese Communist Party, which is fundamentally 12 incompatible with Taiwan’s democracy; and 13 (D) any attempt to coerce the people of 14 Taiwan to accept a political arrangement that 15 would subject them to direct or indirect rule by 16 the PRC, including a ‘‘one country, two sys- 17 tems’’ framework, would constitute a grave 18 challenge to United States security interests in 19 the region. 20 (2) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of 21 the United States to oppose any attempt by the 22 PRC authorities to unilaterally impose [Text truncated for display. 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